Furniture construction



NV. 25, 1952 Q KRAMER FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Filed April l, 1948Gttorneg Patented Nov. 25, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FURNITURECONSTRUCTION Charles Kramer, Jeffersonville, Ind.

Application April 1, 1948, Serial No. 18,445

2 Claims.

This invention relates to furniture in which a case, cabinet or the likeis constructed with a compartment and a slidable drawer made of wood inwhich features are provided to maintain the drawer free from bindingunder long usage.

The main object of this invention consists of providing constructionfeatures that maintain the drawer in a free sliding relation to the caseregardless of expansion or contraction or both of these inevitableforces that result from temperature changes and moisture content of thewooden members; summarily stated, to eliminate binding or sticking whenpulled from the case.

Another object of this invention resides in adding an element to anormally constructed drawer, and a conventionally constructed case inwhich it is slidably mounted, that functions not only to prevent bindingor sticking but to maintain the drawer substantially horizontal whenwithdrawn from the case.

This invention has as a further object a construction that reduces costof production and eliminates much mental irritation during hot periodswhen humidity is excessive.

With reference to the accompanying drawings which disclose preferredembodiments of this invention:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of an open case with aslidable drawer mounted within a compartment therein.

Figure 2 is a section on an enlarged scale along line 22. Fig. 1 of thenear side of the case and side wall of the drawer to show a verticalelevation of the metallic support body, referred to in the thirdparagraph above as an element.

Figure 3 is a top fragmentary view of the upper surface of the side Wallin which said metallic body is mounted.

Figure 4 is a section of Fig. 1 along line 4 4.

Figure 5 is an elevation of the metallic support body.

Figure 6 is a top view of Fig. 5.

Figure 7 is an elevation, partly in section, and a top view thereof toshow another embodiment of this invention.

Figure 8 is an isometric projection, on a reduced scale, of the drawer,removed from the case, with the metallic support body shown in Figs. 1through 6 removed and the modification shown in Fig. 7 included.

In the manufacture of case, cabinet and like furniture equipped withconventional sliding drawers the latter are usually credited with morethan one half of the expense due largely to the necessity of employinghighly skilled labor to fit (Cl. S12-345) the drawers to the opening soas to slide freely and not sag when drawn from the case. To achieve thisresult in the hands of the user seems to have been impossible. This wasparticularly true not only for the user but for the manufacturer andmerchant during August and September of |941 when abnormal humidity wasexperienced, hence this improvement in furniture construction.

Numerals Iii, II, I2, I3 indicate respectively the vertical front, sideand back walls of the drawer shown in Figs. 1 and 8. The front and backwalls of the case in which the drawer is mounted is indicatedrespectively by numerals I4, I5.

The drawer, as found in standard practice, may be slidably mounted on apair of spaced apart slide rails disposed directly beneath side walls II and I2. Slide rail I8 in Fig. 1 discloses the relation to side wallI2. The opposite side of the drawer and case are similarly constructed.Similarly related rub-rails are placed directly above the upper surfacesand aligned with the side walls. Numeral IGA designates the rub-railaligned with side wall I2.

A wire or light rod, indicated generally by numeral I1, it bent at elbowI8 to provide shank I9, at elbow 20 to form shoe 2I and at elbow 22 toform depending arm 23. This is the element, referred to above asmetallic support body. This element is securely and permanently mountedin groove 24, cut in each of the side walls, I I, I2, by means ofinserting arm 23 in hole 25 and driving shank I9 securely in hole 26.While the upper surface of shoe 2| is shown in substantial contact withrub-rail ISA, obviously, this relation may be selected and predeterminedby the location of hole 26 which is provided during fabrication of theside walls.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, a modified supportmember ITA, preferably made of metal, is shown securely driven into thewood at the bottom of hole I3A (slightly larger in diameter than IIA toprovide clearance) at the lateral center of back wall I3 of the drawer.It should be noted that the shoe I'IB projects above the side walls thatcan expand and contract, substantially the same as provided for theother structure, without materially affecting the originally establisheddimension between the top surface of the shoe and the bottom surface ofthe side wall that rests on the slide rail, thus contributing to theobjects of the invention adverted to at the outset hereof and aspresented in the claims.

A separate case structure for the accommodation of a drawer equippedwith the modied structure is not illustrated, however, it is believedobvious, that when support member I 1A is located as shown in Fig. 8 asingle longitudinally disposed rub-rau must be employed and located forcontact by shoe ITB.

Since this invention has been developed to overcome longstanding,imperfections in furniture resulting from temperature changes and theinherent property of wood to absorb moisture and thereby distort thestructure made thereof. it must be understood that the physicalproperties and disposition of the materials used over said imperfectionsare substantial factors for-successfully practicing this invention, andthat while the support member has been consistently referredtaembodiments of my invention herein disclosedv arewell calculated toadequately fulll therebjects -and advantages primarily stated, it istobeY understood that -the invention is-susceptible tovariation,modification and change withinthe spirit and scope of the subjoinedclaims.

What I claimV is: l'. The combination of a cabinet orthe likehavingacompartment provided with an openv ing ina side thereof and arectangular wooden drawer lodged in said opening,` slide rails spaced atthe bottom of the compartment for engage-v ment with the bottom faces ofthe side walls'of the -drawer,rubrails aligned with the top'facesofsaid's'ide walls for assisting inretaining the 4 drawer horizontallywhen withdrawn from said compartment, and an elongated metallic supportbody freely disposed within a vertical groove formed in each of saidside walls, each support body having the lower end thereof secured tothe bottom portion of said side wall and the top portion extending abovethe top face and within planes projecting from the vertical faces of theside memberin which it is mounted for engagement. with one oftherub-rails -andrattached adjacent the bottom edge of its respective sidewall.

2. In a furniture construction, the combination of a drawer receivingframe and a drawer sl-idably mounted therein, said frame including apair of spaced apart drawer supporting slide rails, an upper rub-railarranged above and longitudinally of the drawer, a support body formedwithparallel arms, a long one and a short one joined together by a yoke,each of said arms being freely disposed Within recesses formed in oneoftheyertieal membersv of the drawer, the bottom end'ofthelongarm beingsecured tothe bottomportionof thedrawer and the'yoke projecting upwardly`above the-upper edgesurface of said`V member and-engagingsaidrub-railto maintain the drawerin horizontalI position when extended for accesstothe interior thereon' CHARLES KR-AMERa-- REFERENCES CITED*- TheYfollowingreierencesl are of record inr the rile of this patent:r

UNITED STATES` PATENTSI Number Name Date I 290,237 Jensen Dec; 18,1883339,614V Beale Apr. 13, 1886 2,179,138 Stickley- Nov; 7,'1939`

